All over pinterest I see people re-pinning these things about whitening your teeth at home. They all have some version of the same thing: mix hydrogen peroxide with baking soda, mix hydrogen peroxide with mouthwash, swish with straight hydrogen peroxide (!!!)... isn't that crazy? I mean, I get that most commercial whiteners contain some amount of hydrogen peroxide to whiten (right?), but isn't mixing it up at home and applying it to your teeth dangerous? I feel like there are probably a lot of people out there doing some real damage to their teeth, but maybe I'm just paranoid?

I'd like to know this, too!! I've seen a couple that are make a paste with baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.

_________________I would eat Dr. Cow pocket cheese in a second. I would eat it if you hid it under your hat, or in your backpack, but not if it was in your shoe. That's where I draw the line. -allularpunk

_________________I would eat Dr. Cow pocket cheese in a second. I would eat it if you hid it under your hat, or in your backpack, but not if it was in your shoe. That's where I draw the line. -allularpunk

I don't deal with tooth bleaching much. In my limited pubmed search, I saw articles referencing hydrogen peroxide rinses being irritating to the mucosa and possibly carcinogenic. Didn't read them though. Maybe I will get to it later. Most of my patients can't rinse and spit any type of mouthwash due to disabilities, so it is pretty much a non-issue in my practice. I wouldn't do it!

Hmm. I've never used it for whitening, but I sometimes use a peroxide mouth rinse when I've got bad canker sores. I swish a mixture of half peroxide and half water for as long as I can stand it (about a minute or so). I don't think it really changes the color of my teeth, but I'm also not particularly interested in trying to whiten my teeth, so I don't pay much attention to my exact tooth color. I don't think the occasional peroxide rinse has done me any harm either, but I guess I should probably check with my dentist about this.

My mom is a dental assistant and tells me that all at-home whitening products are basically abrasive/corrosive and will harm your teeth. Not sure how alarmist she's being, but there's one opinion for you.

_________________She eats a paleo diet, just like the whiskey-and-bacon-eating australopithecans before her. - annak

My teeth are totally yellow probably because I've been drinking coffee constantly since I was a baby but considering that I recently had to have filling material put on the front of one of my teeth because the enamel wore completely off, there's probably no real way for me to whiten safely huh? I don't think I really care but I do wonder sometimes.

_________________"No one with hair so soft and glossy could ever be bad at anything." - Tofulish

My teeth are totally yellow probably because I've been drinking coffee constantly since I was a baby but considering that I recently had to have filling material put on the front of one of my teeth because the enamel wore completely off, there's probably no real way for me to whiten safely huh? I don't think I really care but I do wonder sometimes.

one of my front teeth is fake (thanks to my hardass biker injury) so i also can't do any whitening. in a few years the fake tooth will have to be redone, and i might do bleaching and get the new tooth done lighter, but other than that my teeth won't match up.actually, considering how much tea, coffee, red wine and nicotene have passed through these teeth it's amazing they aren't dark brown.

My mom is a dental assistant and tells me that all at-home whitening products are basically abrasive/corrosive and will harm your teeth. Not sure how alarmist she's being, but there's one opinion for you.

I have sensitive teeth and stay away from whitening toothpastes and whatnot because I find they made my teeth even more sensitive than they already are.

Geez, I'm learning too much today about my teeth. I totally make a diluted peroxide and alcohol mouthwash, with a dash of myrrh extract.

I don't really use a lot though, mostly just splash it on my toothbrush. The times I've used peroxide as a mouthwash full strength it felt really bad so I diulte it quite a bit (like 1 part alc, 2 parts peroxide and 3 parts water).

_________________Evolved a vascular system, so I went from bryophyte to lycophyte.

the bottle of hydrogen peroxide that I have in my medicine cabinet says one of its uses is for an antiseptic mouthwash, doesn't say anything about whitening though. I use it for sore ears, never used it for a sore mouth though.